24 REPORT OF COMMISSIONERS OF INLAND FISHERIES. 
planted. And it is obvious that this is also a very important 
feature in any scheme of clam-culture. The methods which are 
successfully used with oysters cannot be applied in the case of the 
clams, on account of their very different habits, so that new meth- 
ods must be developed. The study of the egg-laying habits and 
the peculiar behavior of the young clams have suggested numer- 
ous schemes for the development of such a method. 
First, a number of experiments were made for the purpose of 
ascertaining whether it would be feasible to obtain the spat by 
artificial fertilization of the eggs. Although the eggs can to some 
extent be artificially fertilized, the outlook for this method cannot 
be said to be very bright. 
Another promising method was suggested by the enermous 
numbers of the free-swimming fry, which may be found at almost 
any time at the surface of the water during the breeding season— 
for about six weeks. When these swimming larvie were captured 
by means of a fine bolting-cloth net, and their behavior observed 
under the microscope, it was noticed that a sudden agitation of 
the water in which they were swimming, caused by a sharp tap on 
the side of the dish, caused the animals to cease swimming, close 
their shells, and sink to the bottom. On the basis of this and simi- 
lar observations, a contrivance was constructed which it was hoped 
would have the same effect upon the swimming fry while they were 
in the sea. This device consisted of a square box without a bot- 
tom, set into the ground, with the sides projecting several inches 
above the ground, and with the top covered by a fine galvanized 
wire screen. It was hoped that the larvee, striking against the wire 
screen, would close their shells and drop to the bottom of the box, 
and subsequently burrow in the sand. The sides of the box pro- 
jecting above the general surface of the ground would tend to pre- 
vent their being swept away by the tides, and those which rose to 
the wire screen on the top would fall again. The first test of this 
device was made in the summer of 1900. At the beginning of;the 
breeding season, this apparatus was put into use in a locality where 
the clam-set, as arule, is very sparse. In August, when the clams 
